Kapsalon facts for kids
A serving of Dutch Kapsalon
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| Type | Fast food |
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| Place of origin | Netherlands |
| Region or state | Rotterdam |
| Created by | Nathaniël Gomes |
| Main ingredients | French fries, meat (döner or gyro), Gouda cheese, salad vegetables |
Kapsalon ([ˈkɑpsɐlɔn]) is a fast food dish created in 2003 in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, consisting of a layer of french fries placed into a disposable metal take-away tray, topped with döner or gyro meat, covered with slices of Gouda cheese, and heated in an oven until the cheese melts. Then a layer of shredded iceberg lettuce is added, dressed with garlic sauce and sambal, a hot sauce from Indonesia, a former Dutch colony. The term kapsalon is Dutch for "hairdressing salon", alluding to one of the inventors of the dish who worked as a hairdresser. The dish is a product of Dutch multiculturalism, combining elements of dishes from multiple cultures. The dish has spread internationally in a relatively short time.
Invention and spread
The dish was conceived in 2003 by Nathaniël Gomes, a Cape Verdean hairdresser in the Rotterdam district of Delfshaven, who one day at the neighboring shawarma store "El Aviva" asked to combine all his favorite ingredients into one dish. He began regularly to request what the restaurant called "the usual order for the kapsalon". Other customers noticed and started to order the kapsalon too, and it became a "hit", soon being demanded in nearby snack bars. The dish has since spread around the Netherlands into Belgium, and several other countries in at least three continents. In some places the shawarma meat may be replaced with chicken, or doner kebab meat. The kapsalon has been described as "a typical example of contemporary cultural heritage", and "representative of the transnational nature of the city". It has also been described as a "calorie bomb" and "culinary lethal weapon", with high fat content and up to 1,800 kilocalories (7,500 kJ) in a large serving.
The kapsalon reached the Nepalese capital city of Kathmandu in 2017, when a chef returning from a visit to the Netherlands was asked to prepare a "typically Dutch" meal. Now chicken or fish replace the shawarma meat, and a porcelain plate substitutes for the metal tray, but the kapsalon has become fashionable, with many people posting photos and a prominent food blogger describing the dish as "a party in her mouth with her favorite tastes".
Kapsalon is a standard menu item in Belgian döner restaurants, both in Flanders and Wallonia. Various Turkish restaurants throughout Germany serve the dish, especially in larger cities. The dish can be found in other cities throughout Europe as well, such as major Polish cities (including Warsaw, Poznan and Kraków), or Prague, Czech Republic, or Riga, Latvia, or Oulu, Finland. It has been found in Morocco as well.
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People sharing a kapsalon
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El-Aviva, the place where the kapsalon was invented
See also
In Spanish: Kapsalon para niños
